Arts and Heritage Alliance Milton Keynes Recruitment for Chair of the Board
Strategic Context
A cultural alliance since 2001, AHA-MK became a Charitable Incorporated Organisation in 2015. It has a current board of five trustees responsible for the governance, strategy and compliance with its charitable objective. This is:
- To promote the arts and heritage for the benefit of the public in Milton Keynes in particular but not exclusively by supporting and representing the arts and heritage sector through promotion, representation and development and by working in partnership with other like organisations to achieve joint goals that further the CIO’s charitable purposes.
After our long-standing Chair standing down last year, the Board now seeks to appoint a new Chair to provide strategic leadership and advocacy for the role culture plays in placemaking and delivering vital social and economic benefits such as learning and education, inclusion and diversity and health and wealth being.
About AHA-MK
AHA-MK is a membership organisation uniting and advocating for the cultural sector across the city. Our members include organisations of international, national, regional and local significance. The breadth of members enables AHA-MK to advocate for culture and heritage as a vital ingredient of the City’s aspiration to be a world-class place for people to live, work and play.
In addition to acting as a voice for the cultural sector and providing opportunities for the sector to share good practice and develop, AHA-MK delivers a number of funded projects. Example projects include:
- Establishing and project managing arts and heritage-based apprenticeships in a project funded by Milton Keynes City Council;
- Developing inclusion and diversity materials to be used within schools across MK and beyond;
- Building cultural and creative education across the city; and
- Working with MK Museum to facilitate community engagement.
AHA-MK also has overall responsibility for MAKE, the cultural education partnership for Milton Keynes.
Membership fees are an annual and unrestricted income for AHA-MK. Other projects provide restricted income for the organisation. As with all small arts and heritage organisations, an ongoing challenge for AHA-MK is to ensure that its income matches its expenditure and allows it to develop reserves for ongoing sustainability.
During its existence, AHA-MK has always been supported by professional staff working on freelance contracts. Our current staff include a Director (Hannah Ellams) and Learning and Inclusion Manager (Camille Poole). Both Hannah and Camille work part time for the organisation on fixed term contracts.
The Role of the Chair
The Chair leads the board of trustees and the organisation to ensure that it achieves its charitable objective. He/she will be responsible for building the trustee team, giving trustees space to develop and be involved in the work. He/she will ensure that the board focuses on strategy rather than operational matters, working with paid staff or consultants to ensure that projects are completed on time, on budget and with satisfactory outcomes. The chair will act as the spokesperson and figurehead as appropriate to key stakeholders.
Specifically, the Chair will:
- Plan and prepare for four annual board meetings a year and the AGM with Director and other trustees as appropriate
- Liaise closely with the treasurer on accounts and drive the strategic sustainability of the organisation supported by the wider board
- Ensure that during meetings a balance is struck between time-keeping and space for discussion
- Act as the lead point of contact with monthly check in meetings and annual appraisal as appropriate for the Director postholder (who in turn will line manage the Learning and Inclusion Manager)
- Have oversight of all strategic workstreams: Cultural Advocacy; Member Services; Inclusion and Diversity; and MAKE (MK Cultural Education Partnership)
- Check that decisions, actions and deliberations are accurately minuted; and
- Ensure that decisions are implemented and, if appropriate, monitored.
The board of trustees is therefore looking for someone who:
- Believes that arts, culture and heritage are a critical part of our social and economic infrastructure delivering important value and benefits
- Has a strong understanding of and credibility with decision makers and influencers within the MK city and wider regional infrastructure where culture should be visible and valued
- Possesses tact, diplomacy and the powers of persuasion
- Has the skills to provide strategic support to senior staff as appropriate
- Is a proven strategic leader with an entrepreneurial approach
- Has excellent stakeholder management and advocacy skills
We welcome and actively encourage applications from people of all backgrounds and experience. We are committed to equality, diversity and inclusion, which is reflected in our mission to be open to people, places, methods and ideas. AHA-MK aims to foster a diverse and inclusive environment so that all in our community can reach their potential. We recognise that different people bring different perspectives, ideas, knowledge, and culture, and that this difference brings great strength.
Timescales
The deadline for applications for Chair is Friday 14th March at noon.
We will hold interviews with up to three shortlisted candidates w/c 24th March.
To apply please email your CV and no more than two pages of cover letter on why you are interested in applying for the role to emma@courtneyconsulting.co.uk
We are happy to accept video expressions of interest if this suits your needs better than writing.
Please note that this is a voluntary unpaid position for a registered charity.
If you would like to arrange an informal chat about the role / work of AHA-MK, please email our vice chair Emma Courtney – emma@courtneyconsulting.co.uk to arrange a call.
AHA-MK Update
Mandy Legg has had to step down as Chair of AHA-MK.
Mandy did some brilliant work for us during her tenure, but on balance decided that the potential conflict of interest with her role as a Councillor, and demands on her time generally weren’t viable in the long term. Our Vice Chair Emma Courtney will act as Interim Chair until a new Chair is recruited.
If anyone would like a copy of the Chair advertisement, or an informal chat about the role, please feel free to contact Emma via emma@courtneyconsulting.co.uk.
We’re postponing our AGM, but we’ll be in touch with a new Spring date soon.
We’d like to sincerely thank Mandy for her trusteeship, on behalf of all the AHA-MK team, trustees and members.
Annual General Meeting
***Postponed until Spring, new date to be announced***
If you’d like to attend, please fill out this short form.
